


First Pass

by OpenHeart_WickedMind



Category: King Arthur (2004) RPF
Genre: Beginnings, Cute, Fluff, Football | Soccer, Friendship/Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 15:39:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6861070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpenHeart_WickedMind/pseuds/OpenHeart_WickedMind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Movies are hard. Movies in English are even harder. Hugh and Mads struggle with lines, proving a friend in need is a friend indeed.<br/>- - -<br/>Dedicated to the amazing, wonderful, talented itsybitsylemonsqueezy who is the best Hugh Dancy RPer ever. Omg, the things we cook up together…</p><p>(I worship their real life spouses and this is just for fun!)</p><p>***also this was written while the video for Halsey’s song "Blue" played in the background on repeat. Take that for what you will...</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Pass

The makeup trailer was filled with the endless hum from the fluorescent lights above. All of the chairs were empty except for the one occupied by Mads Mikkelsen. He stared at himself in the mirror and noted the scowl that had etched itself into his features. His dialogue had been shit in rehearsal and he’d been practicing his English in front of his mirror like his dialogue coach had told him. Everything had seemed fine but as soon as he’d gotten on set nerves hit him and his otherwise silver tongue turned to lead in his mouth. He tried the line again, but it didn’t sound right. He put his head in his hands and took a deep, calming breath. 

Get your shit together. This is a big opportunity. Fucking Hollywood for Christ sake. 

The trailer door opened and his co-star Hugh Dancy entered. “Hello?”

“Michelle went to get some stuff.” Mads turned to see Hugh was out of his Galahad costume and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. It was a shame, he was one of the most beautiful men Mads had ever seen and the skirt was a big plus. “You look like you should be going home for the day.”

“I was looking for you actually.” 

Mads had only talked to the younger man sparingly during rehearsals and filming. He was not shy but his muddled English made it a bit harder to mingle with his costars than he’d thought. But Hugh had always seemed friendly and genuine whenever they’d spoken. 

Hugh sighed running a hand through the unruly brown curls on his head before stopping in front of the mirror and placing his hands on the tabletop. He turned to Mads. “I need your help.”

Mads put the script in his hands down, “What’s wrong?”

“Ugh, just, my lines. I mean, I had them down. Then suddenly I’m on horseback and everything goes sideways. Like pat your head and rub your belly.” Hugh mimed the gesture as he made an expression that made him look more like a wide eyed puppy than a man in his twenties. 

Mads laughed, “Well, you seemed to have it down today.”

“I didn’t have lots of lines today but…” Hugh leaned against the counter. “Listen, do you think that we could kick a football around for a bit while I practice lines? I think it would be the same...you know?”

“Sure,” Mads said, trying to hide his relief. While they were helping Hugh with his lines, he may be able to sneak in a bit of practice as well. 

“Amazing! Thank you,” Hugh gave Mad’s shoulder a quick squeeze, “Thank you.”

Hugh started to walk out of the trailer, “There’s a park right near the hotel. We can meet up there tomorrow whenever you’re ready. Just call my room 304.”

“304. I’ll call,” Mads said and Hugh gave him one last blinding smile before letting the trailer door shut behind him. 

*

The cool morning air nipped at Mads’ legs as he left the hotel. He’d showered quickly after Hugh’s call and thrown on a sports jersey and shorts. He crossed the street at a jog, anxious to get the day started. He saw Hugh before the other man saw him. The younger man was wearing a blue t-shirt over black basketball shorts and leaning up against a tree sipping the coffee in his hand looking out at the unoccupied expanse of grass in front of him. The chill of the morning dew sunk into Mads’ sneakers as he made his way to Hugh. He was half tempted to call out to him but something about the way the dawn light caught off the curls on his head made him not want to disturb the beautiful picture. He chuckled out loud hearing Hanne’s voice mocking him about his very obvious crush on his co-star over the phone last night. He hadn’t had a good response. He didn’t know the man well enough to really feel anything for him other than an appreciation for his scandalously good looks. His laughter caught Hugh’s ear and the other man looked at him with a smile. 

“Are you laughing at me already? I haven’t even shown you my awful sports skills yet.” 

“Not laughing at you,” Mads said finally coming to stand next to Hugh. He noticed a small backpack at the base of the tree, next to a second coffee. 

“I realized I didn’t mention I was getting coffee over the phone. So, I just bought you one anyways,” Hugh knelt down and picked up the coffee then reached into his bag and pulled out a small paper bag. He held both out to Mads. “I didn’t know how you took it so I grabbed some sugar and cream just in case.” 

Mads took the coffee and waved his hand at the bag. “Black. Thank you.” 

“I need cream and sugar myself. Constantly teased about it. Explain to me how the way I take your coffee equate to my manhood? I’ve never understood it myself.” Hugh tucked the bag back into his backpack and pulled out a copy of the script. Mads noticed the scrawled writing across the pages and instantly gained more respect for Hugh’s attention to detail. They seemed to have a similar style when it came to attacking a script. 

“Not yet,” Mads said, in reference to the script, “let’s play for a bit first.”

“Okay,” Hugh got the soccer ball he’d tucked behind his backpack and put his coffee on the ground. The ball rolled in front of his feet and he looked up at Mads with a sheepish expression, “Promise you’ll take it easy on me.”

Mads raised an eyebrow at the younger man as he put his coffee down. 

Hugh raised one hand up, “With the football! I expect you to be a bloody viking with me about the script.”

A Viking? Mads’ laughter filled the space around them. Then he made a serious expression, mocking Hugh, “Be prepared.” 

Mads had just enough time to see the mischief in Hugh’s eyes before the other man took off with the ball. He watched Hugh and felt bud of warmth blossoming in his chest, that signal that he’d made a connection with someone. A sigh of relief left his lips as he sprinted through the damp grass towards the man who seemed to still have sunlight caught in his hair. 

*

The time passed quickly as soon as they started running lines. Hugh’s skills weren’t as bad as he’d said and after a while, they’d just kicked the ball around. They ended up telling each other about their lives outside of acting and Mads had finally felt comfortable enough to request some help from Hugh on his lines. They stopped playing and sat under the tree, Hugh facing Mads and taking his job of helping Mads with the pronunciation very seriously. He was an enthusiastic teacher though, constantly touching Mad’s leg and nodding with approval when Mads made it through something. 

Eventually, Mads could leave the script and start going over some of the more conversational English he’d heard thrown around the group that he didn’t quite grasp or wanted some help with. They were both so engrossed in each other’s company they’d forgotten to eat, the growling of Mads’ stomach causing an abrupt stop to the conversation.

“Someone’s hungry.” 

“Oh yeah,” Mads looked at his watch, it was past noon. Hugh mirrored Mads and snapped upright. 

“Shit. I didn’t realize how late it was. I have something I need to take care of in an hour.” 

Hugh’s words caused a little twinge of longing in Mad’s chest. He noticed the other man hadn’t moved. 

“You should probably shower first.”

“Shut up,” Hugh said with a laugh as he stood up and Mads followed, brushing the grass off his shorts. 

Hugh really was something. Mads learned quite a bit about him this morning and every personal detail Hugh let slip caused him to like the young man even more. Today, for example. Hugh had put together this whole day just to improve on himself. Mads’ looked back at his watch again and his mind paused as he thought back to how they’d spent the morning. How long had they even practiced Hugh’s lines? An hour, possibly less. Realization washed over him and he felt taken back. Hugh had his back to him as he finished zipping up his backpack and putting it on. 

“Hugh. Did you really plan today just to help you practice?”

Hugh had his back to him as he finished zipping up his backpack and putting it on. He turned at Mads’ question, his shoulders slumped down and his teeth biting his bottom lip. 

“Please, please don’t be mad. I just noticed you seemed, well, just not exactly comfortable with everyone and I thought it might be your English. Which, is fine by the way. I told you how the accent really helps with Tristan’s character. And I’ve always been able to understand you. And I don’t even think anyone else noticed. And you just seemed so nice and I wanted to help…”

Mad’s rested his hand on Hugh’s shoulder and the words stopped flowing out of the other man’s mouth. 

“Thank you. I’m happy that you invited me out today.”

“Anytime, really.” Hugh responded in a quiet voice, his cheeks flushed red. 

Mads pulled the other man into his arms, clapping him on the back. “Thank you, again. I had fun today. Even if I had to suffer through your abysmal football skills.” 

Hugh pulled away, giving Mads a playful shove. “Fuck you. Not two hours ago you were saying I wasn’t that bad.” 

Hugging the other man was a bad idea. Now all Mads could do was stare at those pink lips as they said goodbye. Shit.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He managed to get the words out as Hugh started to walk away. The other man turned back with one final smile before walking out of the park towards the hotel. 

Mads leaned up against the tree and watched the other man go. Hugh had gone through the trouble of planning today just to help him. The man was just as kind as he was beautiful. He laughed as he realized Hanne had been right. Mads walked across the short stretch of grass after the treeline that lead towards the street. As he stood waiting for the light to signal he could cross he saw a delivery truck with an advertisement for Guinness on it go by. He remembered Hugh mentioning they should go out for drink sometime after Mads had allowed him to score another goal. Mads felt a skip in his step as he crossed the street wondering how soon he’d be able to invite the other man out without looking too eager to see him again.


End file.
